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This short film wants to be an inspiration to everybody on this planet to build with local and natural materials, to empower themselfs and share the beauty and joy with everybody around them!

*WATCH TILL THE END* 🙂

Through this video I share with you some impressions of the 3 weeks intensive natural building workshop 2016 at Terra Alta – Off the Grid Educational Center in Portugal.

In 3 weeks we have participated in a roundwood timberframing workshop with the wonderful and skilled facilitators Alan Ueland and Dominique Kruger & an earthen plastering, rocket mass heater building and light clay wall structure course with the two
enthusiastic and lovely teachers Eva Wimmer & Joshua Roxendal.

For more information or to participate yourself at one of the upcoming courses visit http://terralta.org/

Vision of Terra Alta:
To empower those seeking skills of regeneration, to let the flows of life carry symbiotic energies, and bring forth a new culture that reflects the principles and ethics of Permaculture and other philosophies. Harmony and balance is manifested from the practical aspects of Permaculture Design education all the while developing healthy social relations and individual well-being, nourished by good food, music, art, celebration and Love for Life!

Go out there and learn for yourself! For more Natural building projects check out www.thepoosh.org

Video by Ilka Pia Claren // ilkapiaclaren.wordpress.com

Music by Terra Livre + Härvaro – Thank you for your wonderful support!

Our animated correspondent, ‘Little Lee Patrick Sullivan,’ continues our “Energy 101” series with an inside look at solar-power technology. He breaks down the different types of solar devices and how they work, detailing the pros and cons of this renewable energy source.

Wind power is the conversion of wind energy into a useful form of energy, such as using wind turbines to make electrical power.Wind energy is the kinetic energy of air in motion, also called wind.Large wind farms consist of hundreds of individual wind turbines which are connected to the electric power transmission network.

Europe accounted for 48% of the world total wind power generation capacity in 2009. In 2010, Spain became Europe’s leading producer of wind energy, achieving 42,976 GWh. Germany held the top spot in Europe in terms of installed capacity.

In 2010, more than half of all new wind power was added outside of the traditional markets in Europe and North America. This was largely from new construction in China, which accounted for nearly half the new wind installations (16.5 GW).

Compared to the environmental impact of traditional energy sources, the environmental impact of wind power is relatively minor in terms of pollution. Wind power consumes no fuel, and emits no air pollution, unlike fossil fuel power sources. The energy consumed to manufacture and transport the materials used to build a wind power plant is equal to the new energy produced by the plant within a few months. While a wind farm may cover a large area of land, many land uses such as agriculture are compatible, with only small areas of turbine foundations and infrastructure made unavailable for use.

Paul Wheaton, the bad boy of Permaculture was proclaimed by Geoff Lawton in 2012 the Duke of Permaculture. He is the creator of two on-line communities. One is about Permaculture, Permies.com, and one is about software engineering, CodeRanch.com.

He is a powerful advocate of Sepp Holzer’s techniques for which a recent study showed they have the ability to feed 21 billion people without the use of petroleum or irrigation. He also promotes the use of hugelkultur, which sequesters carbon and eliminates the need for irrigation, and polycultures, which reduces the need for pest control and improves the health of plants. He wrote several articles about lawn care, raising chickens, cast iron and diatomaceous earth. Paul regularly uploads permaculture videos and permaculture podcasts.

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized.* (*Subject to certain rules and regulations)

I watched a lot of videos on how to build a chicken tractor. In the process, I was able to come up with some ideas for how to build my own. I had two things in mind during the construction, the safety and comfort of my chickens. These little girls are like family now, and I don’t want anything to happen to them. So I built the tractor in such a way that I could close them up at night and no critter would ever have an opportunity to bother them. It’s heavier than I anticipated, so I’ll have to make some adjustments to the tires. But overall, I’m very pleased with how it turned out.

I built this tiled roof hut in the bush using only primitive tools and materials. The tools I used have been made in my previous videos. It should be pointed out that I do not live in the wild and that this is just a hobby. It should be obvious to most that this is not a survival shelter but an experiment in primitive building technology.
To cut and carve wood I used the celt stone axe and stone chisel made in this video. To carry water and make fire I used pots and fire sticks made in this video. Finally, to store fire wood and dry, unfired tiles, I used the wood shed built in this video.

The wooden frame was built with a 2X2m floor plan and a 2m tall ridge line with 1m tall side walls. 6 posts were put into the ground 0.25 m deep. The 3 horizontal roof beams were attached to these using mortise and tenon joints carved with a stone chisel. The rest of the frame was lashed together with lawyer cane strips. The frame swayed a little when pushed so later triangular bracing was added to stop this. Also when the mud wall was built, it enveloped the posts and stopped them moving altogether.

A small kiln was built of mud from the ground and a perforated floor of clay from the creek bank. It was only 25 cm internal diameter and 50 cm tall. Clay was dug, broken tiles (from previous batches) were crushed and added to it as grog and it was mixed thoroughly.This clay was pressed into rectangular moulds made from strips of lawyer cane to form tiles. Wood ash prevented the clay sticking to the stone. 20 tiles were fired at a time. 450 flat tiles and 15 curved ridge tiles were made with only a few breakages. 26 firings were done in all and the average firing took about 4 hours. The fired tiles were then hooked over the horizontal roof battens.

An underfloor heating system was built into one side of the hut to act as a sitting/sleeping platform in cold weather. This was inspired by the Korean Ondol or “hot stone”. A trench was dug and covered with flat stones with a firebox at one end and a chimney at the other for draft. The flames travelled beneath the floor heating it. After firing it for a while the stones stay warm all night with heat conducted directly to the sleeping occupant and radiating into the room.

The wall was made of clayey mud and stone. A stone footing was laid down and over this a wall of mud was built. To save on mud, stones were included into later wall courses. The mud was dug from a pit in front of the hut and left a large hole with a volume of about 2.5 cubic metres.

The finished hut has a swinging door made of sticks. The inside is dark so I made a torch from tree resin. A broken tile with resin on it acts as a small lamp producing a lot of light and little smoke. The end product was a solid little hut, that should be fire and rot resistant. The whole project took 102 days but would have taken 66 days were it not for unseasonal rain. For a more in depth description see my blog (https://primitivetechnology.wordpress…).

“Life in Syntropy” is the new short film from Agenda Gotsch made specially to be presented at COP21 – Paris. This film put together some of the most remarkable experiences in Syntropic Agriculture, with brand new images and interviews.